Michel Gondry is not a household name. His films don’t make millions, but they’re easy to admire, appealingly rough around the edges, and not easily categorized –– just like the French director himself. Even if you’ve seen his biggest hit, 2004’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, you’re more likely to remember the stars — Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet — and the screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman. One of the year’s best films, it grossed less than $35 million in the US. If Gondry hasn’t achieved the visibility of Kaufman, who collaborated with him on his first two features (2001’s little-seen curio Human Nature is the other), that’s hardly surprising given his lack of ego-driven vanity. I spoke with him twice recently: first in Beverly Hills at the Four Seasons Hotel, and then a few weeks later, prior to a special screening of his new Be Kind Rewind for students at MIT, where he was an artist-in-residence during 2005 and 2006. The sustained applause following the MIT screening brought a sheepish smile to his face.

I notice some similar themes in both this film and another of your pictures, Block Party, which Mos Def also appeared in. Did you have Mos and Jack Black in mind when you wrote the script for be kind rewind?
No, not in the beginning. I sort of had an intuition. Casting is important to me, especially because I had worked with Dave Chappelle on Block Party. That movie was about celebrating something I didn’t belong to and didn’t really understand, so that I got sort of sucked into it, and then I got addicted. Then when I started to write Be Kind Rewind, I had that in mind. I wanted really to talk about different communities coming together. My favorite band when I was a kid was Booker T. and the MG’s, who were one of the very few integrated bands –– in Memphis, in the ’60s! At the time, there were two white people in the band, and depending on the state or city where they would be, two would stay in the car and two would go out shopping. It’s interesting –– they were best friends. I actually played with them for this soundtrack, which was my dream come true. I played the drums with them!

Jack Black is quite obnoxious in this film, but he’s able to balance a certain sweetness with being funny. Is this what led you to cast him?I think it’s his commitment to do what he has to do in the most professional way. I like this moment when Mos tells him, “No, no, we can’t do the take again,” and he’s really sort of heartbroken, because he wants to do really good. And I really like this quality in his character. He brings that, of course. He’s naive, he’s clumsy, he’s grotesque at times, but he really tries very hard at what he does. He’s very natural, and very extreme at the same time. He’s naked when he’s dressed for some reason, or dressed when he’s naked.

Be Kind Rewind This isn’t Gondry’s best work — it’s too unstructured, labored when it begs to soar.

Dream job In a recurring scene in Michel Gondry’s La science des rêves , Stéphane (Gael García Bernal), who’s clad in a tight-fitting lavender suit, frantically runs around his “television studio,” its walls constructed from egg cartons, its cameras from cardboard. Watch the trailer for The Science of Sleep (QuickTime)

Primary concerns The last thing people are looking for when they go to the movies is a reminder of the political crapola they are trying to escape.

Dave Chappelle's Block Party Dave Chappelle has spent his down time on this low-budget documentary — directed by Michel Gondry, of all people — about the comedian’s effort to stage a free rap concert in the middle of a rundown Brooklyn neighborhood, just so folks can have a good time.

Fall back If you cannot remember the past, so Santayana said, you’re condemned to repeat it. Watch trailers for this fall's new releases.

Sound and silence The RISD exhibit reminds us that filmmakers at the forefront of the medium have been consistently drawn to the novelty of the medium.

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